


switzerland flag emoji

by nooneleftilove



Category: Mean Girls (2004), Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: F/F, please appreciate them, toot toot welcome aboard the Janis/Karen shipping train
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-05-31 14:02:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15120980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nooneleftilove/pseuds/nooneleftilove
Summary: A Request:“You left your sketchbook on a bench and i can’t really tell but is this supposed to be me??? is that what i really look like????” AUNot so much an AU as slightly canon divergent.Karen finds a sketchbook on a bench that’s labelled “Property of Janis Sarkisian” and takes a look.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mrs_Angie_Carter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Angie_Carter/gifts).



> karen is a blessing and janis is That Bitch™  
> that is all

Art therapy at first seemed like the worst thing in the world to Janis, until her therapist told her she could use it to “visually manifest the negative feelings that you harbor” or some other shrinky stuff along those lines, but to Janis it meant she could draw Regina as the awful wretch she was. This would mostly happen in her especially angry bouts when Regina would call her some rude name, or she had too much time alone to reflect on how awful middle school had been, but it would always be abstract - never a direct portrayal of her face. Her new piece was a sketch of all three Plastics, but portrayed ina more realistic fashion, only with slight alterations to make them appear how she saw them. 

Obviously, the plan was just to draw it and move on to a new page without showing it to anybody; this was never a piece to share, but more a way to cope. That being said, it was _really_ not the plan for anybody to see it. Especially not a Plastic, but one day before school started Janis was sitting on a bench at the entrance of Northshore waiting for classes to start with her bag and sketchbook beside her before Damian excitedly grabbed her hand and drags her away with an update about his latest scheme to get Phillip to notice him again.

* * *

 

When they returned just moments later, Janis felt her heart drop to her ass upon seeing Karen Smith next to her bag holding the leather-bound sketchbook with the words “Property of Janis Sarkisian” scratched in the front in crude, angular writing. Damian looks at the bench then to Janis and lets out a gasp. “Girl, she has your therapy book,” he pauses to look at Janis who is standing, dumbfounded. “Well go get it!” he ends his sentence by clapping Janis on the shoulder, knocking her out of her shocked trance and launching her toward the bench.

She stumbles over her clunky boots for a second and catches herself a few steps in front of Karen, who looks up at her like a child. “Um...hi,” Janis says, looking at the book in Karen’s hands, her palms drenched in sweat.

As if Satan himself had decided to come play tricks, it was open to The Plastics page. The three girls were standing together, with Regina in the front. She had been drawn as inhumanly tall with her face covered by shadow, and garish, pointy horns looking out of her perfect curly hair. Around her feet there were flames, licking around to touch the other feet of the other two. Gretchen and Karen’s has gotten off easier, since Janis knew what it had been like to be in their place. To the right was Gretchen, clutching to Regina’s arm as if she was afraid if what would happen if she let go, but also terrified to stay clinging to her. Her face was turned away from Regina, eyes searching the crowd around them for secrets. Lastly, to the left was Karen. She had a dopey grin, and the Snapchat dog filter. She was also holding on to Regina, but not in fear, rather to avoid getting lost in the sea of people around them. 

“Hey!” Karen had her finger gingerly placed at the feet of her caricature. “Is that me? Do I really look like that? I use that filter a lot but I didn’t know it was permanent!” She sounds shocked and her eyes are trained on Janis, who looks around for a second before taking a seat next to her. 

“I...” she trails off, takes a deep breath in and tries again, “Yes, that is you, and that isn’t permanent. This um, is my sketchbook for art therapy and I drew the three of you as I saw you.” Janis spoke stiffly, trying to pop her knuckles as she spoke- a nervous habit. She knew if word of this got out to Regina, she’d be destroyed, but she also knew that it wouldn’t be fair to be mad at Karen, even though every part of her brain was screaming at her to take it and run, all the while screaming awful things at Karen. 

“Oh! Heart eye emoji, Switzerland flag emoji, pumpkin emoji! We’re in Halloween costumes! Regina is the devil, Gretch is in secret service, and I’m a sexy dog! Cute!” Karen exclaims, her face lighting up in a bright smile. 

Janis gives her a brief ‘ _what the hell_ ’ look, before nodding. Two of the three emojis that had been _spoken out loud_ made sense, but Switzerland threw her for a loop. “Yep, that’s it! Now I, uh, need this back, okay, Karen?” she points to her sketchbook, which was still held in Karen’s perfectly manicured hands. 

“Oh yeah, duh!” Karen closes the book and places it in the other girl’s lap. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell Regina, I know she doesn’t like you.” Their interaction is cut short by the bell ringing. 

Janis grabs her stuff and mumbles a quick “Thank you.” before bolting away to class, hoping no students walking in the school saw them interact. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen and Janis do the big Gay and kiss :o

Janis and Damian had a ritual of going to Waffle House every other Friday as a celebration for putting up with the bullshit that came along with high school. They had made an offer to Cady to tag along but she denied because she was doing some “super important Plastic recon.” They would sit at the same booth, with the same waitress, and scarf down hashbrowns and chocolate chip waffles until they felt like they would explode. Today was one of those days. 

They were two plates of hashbrowns and three waffles down collectively when Karen skips in, taking a seat at a table by herself at the other side of the diner. “The sketchbook snoop is here,” Damian says offhandedly, through a mouthful of waffle.

Janis whips her head around like a barn owl on speed, fearing that the whole Plastic clique would be at their grimy place of salvation.”Why is she here? Cady said The Plastics were hanging out tonight...” she says, once her head has returned to its proper alignment on her shoulders. 

Damian shrugs, and holds out his fork for Janis to take a bite of their shared food. “I don’t know but you’re gonna make me look fat if you don’t eat some of this, hun.” 

“I can feed myself, whiny.” Janis bats away his fork with her own, scoops up a large pile of hashbrowns, the stuff them in her mouth. As she swallows down the greasy potatoes, she turns her head to Karen again. “I’m gonna go talk to her.” 

Before Damian can protest, Janis is out of their booth and headed over to Karen’s table. 

* * *

Janis plops down across from Karen, who is sipping a Sprite and playing one of those color by number games on her phone. “Hi Karen.”

Karen looks up from her phone and grins. “Art girl! Janis, yay, hi!” she spouts out, reaching across the table and patting Janis on the head. “That drawing was really good by the way.” 

Janis smiles shyly and drums her fingers on the table, fearing that Karen’s appearance here was due to an underlying motive of Regina’s. “Why are you here alone? Don’t you normally stick with Regina and Gretchen?” 

“Yeah, but I wanted a waffle and Regina thinks Waffle House is gross but it’s really close to where we were so I got an Uber and now I’m here!” She explains, throwing her hands up in a celebratory manner. “I’m gonna go back to her house when I’m done though, but I was _really_ hungry.”

Janis chuckles and leans back in her seat, feeling a bit more comfortable. _Thats such a Regina thing to do,_  she thinks. “Me and Damian,” she turns to gesture at her friend, who is, from what Janis can see, swiping feverishly on Tinder, “Come here all the time, so it was just weird to see you, I guess.” 

“That’s so fetch! I don’t really know what that means but Gretchen says it a lot and I think she wants other people to say it too, so,” she shrugs. As she speaks a plate is placed in front of her, occupied by a steaming waffle. 

“I’ll leave so you can eat,” Janis says and she stands up and turns to return to her table. Karen waves before picking up the syrup and literally drowning her waffle in it. 

* * *

 

Damian is distracted from his quest for online love by a dramatic thud across from him. “Well?” He asks, quirking an eyebrow. “Did you learn anything? Find the fountain of youth? Figure out which queens are gonna be on the next season of Rupaul?” 

“Oh, my God, Damian, you’re so gay, shut up. She’s here because she was hungry and Regina hates Waffle House so she got an Uber here alone to have a waffle and then she’s going back to Regina’s,” Janis explains, complete with hand gestures to roadmap Karen’s trip. 

“Jan, honey, you could have just said that she wanted a waffle.” He cracks a goofy smile and looks at Janis, who starts to do the same. “Can I _please_ get a waffle!?” they quote in unison, before dissolving into a fit of ugly laughter. 

They spent the rest of the meal in a relatively casual state, until Damian flings a rather chocolatey piece of waffle at Janis, who fumbles to catch it, ending in her hands being covered in a sugary brown mess. “I’m gonna go wash this off,” she waves her hand. “It’s your turn to pay, so you do that and wait outside, I won’t be gone long.”

* * *

 

Waffle House bathrooms are arguably more scary than the Waffle House itself, and Janis had decided that long ago. As she turns off the water and turns on the hand-dryer, she is startled by Karen of all people opening the creaky door. It was a small two stall bathroom with one sink, so by the time Karen was inside there wasn’t much room for them to move around. “Hi,” Janis says, earning a wave from Karen. 

“My hands are all sticky from the syrup,” Karen explains holding her hands out in front of her. 

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Janis moves out of the way of the sink area,”Here.” She was now leaning against the wall, watching Karen try to remove the stickiness from her hands. “I’m gonna go, but uh... have fun with Regina.” She says, reaching for the door. 

Karen turns around, her hands dripping wet. “Wait!” she says, stopping Janis dead in her tracks. “Is it true, what Regina says? Do you like girls?” There was no malice behind the question, and she had her head cocked to the side like a curious puppy. 

“Um... Yeah,” Janis says with a nod, internally kicking herself for her innocence. “So if you’re gonna like, crucify me go ahead.” This statement comes quieter, and Janis lowered her head. 

“I don’t know what that means, but I think you liking girls is totally fairy emoji, Caucasian thumbs up emoji, rainbow emoji, tea emoji.” Karen takes a step closer to Janis, putting her hands on her shoulders. “Can you keep a secret? I think I like girls, too. But, also boys. But, also cats. Not like I want to date a cat, but like, yeah.” 

Janis gulps and tries in vain to take a step back. “Cool,” she says, emphasized by a voice crack. Her eyes flit to Karen’s lips for a split second, before going back up to her eyes. 

“I’m gonna kiss you now!” Karen leans in and closes the space between the two, and sure as shit, Janis was making out with Karen Smith in a Waffle House bathroom. 

 _Wait, holy shit_. Janis was making out with Karen Smith in a Waffle House bathroom. As good as it was, Janis knew she needed to stop it before it went too far, or she had a panic attack.

She reaches up, and replaces her lips position against Karen’s with her index finger. She is blushing from her cheeks down her neck, and her hand is shaking ever so slightly from an adrenaline rush. “I,” she slides out from between Karen and the door. “Really, _really_ enjoyed that but I gotta dash because Damian’s waiting for me, and I’m sure Regina, who will _never_ hear about this, is gonna wonder why it took you so long to eat a waffle so,” she grasps the door handle and swings it open wide. “Bye!” She says frantically, before genuinely running of of the Waffle House to find Damian and get as far away from the premises as possible. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> janis: I am a homosexual having a panic attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consistent updating schedule? I don’t know her
> 
> writing chapters that aren’t short? don’t know her either

Once they had safely returned to the refuge of Janis’ basement, Damian throws himself down on the couch and gives her a pointed look. “Okay, so are you gonna tell me why you blasted out of the Waffle House like a bat from Hell?” he asks with a raised brow.

Janis, who had been pacing around the floor with her hands on the top of her head, stopped and turned to look at him.  “Damian Hubbard, if I share this with you do you swear on your life that you will not freak out, and not tell anybody -not Cady or some cute boy on the internet, or God, or your cardboard cut out of Rupaul- what happened in our former sanctuary of syrup?” She dropped her hands to her pockets and resumed pacing after Damian places a hand on his heart and nods. “So after you got chocolate on me, I went to the bathroom to wash it off because I’m not a heathen and then Karen came in and-“ 

“Honey, I’m gonna need you to slow down and take a breath because at this rate you’re gonna hyperventilate and honestly,” Damian gestured to himself sprawled out on the couch, “I’m too comfy to get up and try to help you.” 

Janis then stopped, gave him a glare, and continued her pacing rave. “So, _anyway_ , Karen comes in and is all ‘ _My hands are sticky also why does Regina hate you, is it cause you like girls?_ ’ and I in my infinite stupidity basically told her ‘ _I’m a big old lesbian if you’re gonna kill me make it quick_ ’ and then she basically told me that she was bi and then she had me against the wall and we were making out, then I flipped out and ran away and then she probably left and told Regina that I took advantage of her in a Waffle House bathroom. Then it’s now.” She had managed that all in one breath, and sat herself down next to Damian with a deep inhale. 

He didn’t find the situation nearly as dire and Janis, and placed his hand on her knee with a shocked look. “So you mean to tell me that you literally have gone, like, years with no action and then _Karen Smith_ is having her way with you? Spill, bitch. Was she good at kissing? Are you in love?” He asked in a singsong manner, shaking Janis by the knee. 

“Hey, Damian, now is not the time. I am literally going to fling myself into the sun because Regina is gonna burn me alive,” Janis paused, then shyly smiled. “But also, yes she was a good kisser, and I truly felt God in that Waffle House until I realized it was a death sentence,” she says. “So now I’m trying to decide what I’m going to change my name to when I move to a quaint town in Massachusetts.”

Damian placed his hands on her shoulders. “First of all, dramatic much? Second of all, Karen might be dumb, but she’s not an idiot. Do you really think she’s gonna go prance back to Regina and be all ‘ _Oh Em Gee, Reggie guess what? You know that girl that you hate and call mean names because she’s a flaming homosexual? I totes made out with her in a bathroom!’_ because I don’t.” He then returned his hands to his lap. “So take a deep breath and a chill pill, because panic is not a good look on you.” He waved his hand around her, gesturing to her overwhelming aura of _holy shit_. “Also if you leave me for Massachusetts, you’re gonna die a strange, lobster-related death.”

Janis rolled her eyes, because she knew Damian was right. She rubbed her hands down the fronts of her legs to dry them of from her panic-induced sweat. “Okay, yes. You are correct, but also, consider this. I still made out with her in a Waffle House and we have to see each other in school and if I’m honestly she’s kind of like an a puppy reincarnated in a hot blonde body and I’m kinda into it. But she’s also with Regina and she’s a bitch. So I’m screwed.” 

Damian let out another, very loud laugh. “You have a crush on Karen Smith!” He slapped her shoulder, wheezing with laughter. “It’s not funny because she’s a Plastic but also it really is.” Once he had sobered up, Damian had one more comment. “You guys would be like, the gay-ass Romeo and Juliet. Except nobody dies, and also Juliet is academically incomepetent.” 

Despite her strong desire not to, this caused Janis to laugh. “You’re an ass, but that was pretty funny. Also, there’s no way in hell were gonna date because that’s a recipe for disaster, and we live in Trump’s America, so that’s disaster enough.” 

“Okay, anyway _edgelord_ , can we watch a movie now and pretend you aren’t head over heels for her even though you totally are?” Damian asked, grabbing the TV remote. 

Janis vigorously nodded. “If I don’t have to think about it ever again it’ll be too soon.” 

_Translation: She would not stop thinking about it, and also she was totally screwed, the weekend was only two days long, and she’d soon have to face Karen again._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I just think they’re neat.” - Karen Smith about the popular worm on a string toy from the 70’s, known as a Squirmle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i, a godless creature, wrote this at almost 3 am

Janis had successfully made it halfway through the day without running into any Plastics, much to her relief. She normally spent her time in the hallways with her earbuds in, or solely engaged in conversation with Damian, which spared her from speaking to anybody else, or getting shouted at by Regina. 

As the lunch bell rang, Janis dropped her bag in the corner of the art room and gave the teacher, Mr. Owens, a wave before making her way to her canvas by the window. She looked around and noted that none of the normal “art-freaks” were around -maybe they got brave and went to the cafeteria, or maybe today was an anime club meeting, Janis wasn’t sure. She shrugged, then tuned out everything that wasn’t her brain, her paints, her brush, or her canvas. 

That focus was broken by the sound of, of all people, Karen Smith greeting Mr. Owens, and informing him that _“I was walking past the office and they asked me to bring you your mail, shrug emoji.”_ Janis visibly jumped at the sound of Karen’s voice breaking the comfortable silence in the room. “Hi, Janis!” Karen exclaimed, grinning ear to ear, as Janis could see as she slowly turned around. 

Janis awkwardly smiled, and gave her a short wave. “Uh, hey Karen,” she said. She rocked back and forth from her toes to her heels. She began to turn back to her canvas, but the sound of heels clicking against linoleum and a backpack opening forced her to turn around again. 

“I got you something!” Karen had a closed fist held in front of her, and she sounded like a kid on Christmas. When Janis quirked an eyebrow in response, Karen instructed her to _“Put your hands out and close your eyes, silly!”_ Janis reluctantly did as she was told, fearing this was some mean prank by the Plastics. She could totally see Regina finding out about the Waffle House incident, and sending Karen to ruin her life. 

Janis expected a mean note, maybe a dead frog - anything really. Well, not _anything_ , because when she feels a furry string dropped in her open hands and opens her eyes, to reveal said string had eyes, she is at a loss. “Um... thanks.” Her statement sounded less like a genuine declaration of gratitude, and mods like a question. 

“It’s a Squirmle!” Karen pointed down at Janis’ hands with a giggle. “Isn’t it cool? I bought one for Cady and Regina and Gretchen, but Regina didn’t want hers so I thought I would giveback it to you!” Karen looked Janis in the eyes, like a puppy who had just returned the stick from a game of fetch. “Well?” 

Janis slowly nodded with a smile. “Yeah, this is  pretty cool. Thanks.” She lightly bumped Karen on the shoulder with a fist and used her other hand to put the green Squirmle in her jacket pocket. “Okay, I gotta get back to this,” she gestured to the painted behind her, “and Regina and Gretchen are probably looking for you, so...” 

Karen enthusiastically waved and skipped away and into the hallway. Mr. Owens and Janis share a confused look, then she turned back to her canvas, ignoring the anxiety that eased after she realized it was a safe conversation, and that, _as far as she could tell_ , Regina knew nothing. 

* * *

“Karen gave me _this_ ,” Janis half shouted, dangling her newest possession above Damian’s head. 

He looked up from his place sprawled out on Janis’ bedroom floor. “Janis, dear, darling, lesbian light of my life, platonic soulmate, what in the fuzzy hell is it?” Damian asked while lazily batting at it. 

Janis retracted the furry worm back into her hand, and stuck her head over the side of the bed to look at Damian. “It is a Squirmle. She apparently bought one for all the Plastics, but Regina didn’t want hers, so _obviously_ , Karen gave it to Regina’s worst enemy.” 

“You’re joking.” Damian sat up and slapped his thighs with glee. “You’re not joking! You’re not joking, Lord.” He broke into a fit of giggles. “You know how penguins give other penguins rocks as a sign of affection? I think that is a Karen rock.” 

Janis gave him an unimpressed look before he continued. “So, obviously Regina hasn’t figured out about the,” he lowered his voice “Waffle House makeout.” Another unimpressed look from Janis. 

“I hate you,” she deadpanned. 

 

Damian made a kissy face. “Love you, too.” He paused. “No but seriously, if Regina doesn’t know, you’re in the clear. Plus, you totally like Karen,” he sing-songed. 

Janis covered her face with a pillow and mumbled a nearly inaudible _“You’re insufferable,”_ to Damian, all the while clutching the Squirmle in her hand.

_She was in too deep._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also thank you guys for reading this? I feel like it’s trash and I know that offputs people from reading but like yeah idk man


End file.
